Precious Doll in This Ugly World
by Felicity Dream
Summary: A female Ash wants to go on a pokemon journey, only to find out how dangerous it can really be. Rose-colored lens are smashed to pieces as she gets stuck facing human trafficking, the evils and desperation of humanity, and that there are gray areas for everything and everyone. Her unlikely saviors turn out to be the criminal Teams everyone warned her against...BurntLedgerShipping.
1. Little Girl Lost

Disclaimer: My name's certainly not affiliated with Pokémon –not unless I want to be sued .  
Story: A female Ash Ketchum is faced with being unable to fulfill her dreams with prejudices against her gender, and realizing that the world is a dark, ugly place.  
Set as a genderbent AU.  
Spoilers: I don't think so.  
Warnings: Dark themes, sexual situations, criminal activity, crime themes, human trafficking, etc...  
Pairings: Eventual Giovanni, Archie, Maxie, Cyrus/Fem!Ash (BurntLedgerShipping with genderbent Ash twist,;yeah I made that up ;P), but starts out slowly and separately with ShatterShipping (Gio/Ash), KyogreCrossingShipping (Archie/Ash), BurningAshesShipping (Maxie/Ash), and RedTreeShipping (Cyrus/Ash). Slight AmazedGeekageShipping (Colress/Ash) will be included.

**A/n: Written originally as a one-shot for Wattpad's gender studies contest, and I decided to post here and even continue it. Please don't bug me about Ash's changed gender. Besides, that's the whole point of the contest.**

**Precious Doll in This Ugly World  
**_Chapter One: Little Girl Lost_

Seven days ago, her father left them behind. He was leaving to go on a pokémon journey. He would call and check in with them all the time. He promised them.

Her mother screamed "Liar! Liar! Liar!" over and over when she was alone in her room late at night, and her little six year old self would listen in behind her mother's closed and locked door.

This, Ashelia Ketchum realized, was the beginning of a different life for her.

In Pallet, it was a rather small population and everyone knew everyone and eventually "everything." Her father's abandonment (this was a word she'd learned from "Mrs. 1273" when she walking passed her one day, after school was over) was widely spread and gossiped about. She tended to listen closely and observe everyone, and notice little things that people liked to think she wouldn't understand or catch in the first place, because of her age.

She didn't have friends her age. There were a lack of girls around her age, and the few girls close enough didn't like the same things she did. She loved pokémon, she played rougher and more actively, didn't dress up, and tended to hang around boys more because of this. She was even more content to shorten her name to 'Ash', because it was shorter, catchier, and easier to say, despite how boyish it sounded.

Ash didn't care.

But even if she played more and hung around the boys, she wasn't really friends with them either. They didn't want to be "friends" with a _girl_. Some of them were dumb enough to even think she had cooties. She always rolled her eyes at that –it was so stupid and immature.

And so, a lack of friends led a friendless her to be alone and compensate by paying attention to everyone and everything. She noticed a lot of things, saw stuff she was sure she wasn't supposed to know. Listened and probably learned about things she was too young to know about. Watched and knew things that she was much more comfortable not knowing.

Sometimes she wished she had been born a male and could just play with Gary Oak and the other boys, and be dumb with the rest of them.

But she was a girl and she hated how lonely that made her.

* * *

Gary, the famous Professor Oak's grandson, was technically her only real friend, despite how much he always said he wasn't and called her "a stupid girl!" Whenever she became too bored or lonely, she would always walk the long way to his house and pester him until he agreed to hang out with her, and the two of them would secretly play together. She was doing that right then too. Only, Gary saw her coming while he was walking out of his house and his nose scrunched up.

"What are _you_ doing here?" he asked snottily.

She visibly bristled. "Visiting you, duh!"

"Hmph! Well, I'm going to go to the park to play with my friends, so I don't have time for you," Gary folded his arms across his chest.

"Can I come?" Ash became excited.

"No way! Boys only!" he pulled down an eyelid and stuck out his tongue. After, he straightened and began walking away from her. "Anyway, maybe I'll play with you some other time. Smell ya later!"

Ash pouted and wondered what she was going to do now. The door opening again caught her attention, and she saw Professor Oak getting ready to fetch the newspaper she just noticed was by her feet.

"Asheila! What are you doing here? Ah, if you're looking for Gary, I believe he just left," the professor told her apologetically.

Ash's pout worsened. "It's Ash, Professor. And I know. He just left."

Oak smiled at her, reaching out to ruffle her hair. "I know, why don't you come with me and look at the pokémon out back. You can even help me take care of some of them, if you'd like."

Her eyes brightened up. "Really? I want to, Professor! Please?"

He chuckled and soon enough Ash was looking over a multitude of pokémon. After lunchtime, Oak was observing a flock of bird pokémon that Ash didn't know what they were, while she frolicked around with a few Rattata and Pidgey.

She loved poké́mon. They loved her and would never leave her, so she would love them and never leave them back.

* * *

Ever since, she spent even more time at Gary's home (which was also Professor Oak's home too). But she didn't really play with Gary anymore, who had also taken to playing more with his friends and pretending to have pokémon battles.

It was okay, because she played with pokémon for real and "Sammy" would tell her and teach her all about pokémon, which was much better than playing with all those dumb boys anyway. Sammy, which Professor Oak let her call him, had quickly become her best friend (even if he was actually her only). He would tell her lots of stories, and she especially loved the ones about his pokémon journey, back before he decided he'd rather become a Pokémon Researcher. Her absolute favorite was about Sammy meeting a boy named Ash (just like her!), who he had met when he had rescued a Celebi and had traveled to the future. He'd even showed Ash a sketch he'd drawn of Celebi and the Pikachu that had belonged to the Ash from his story. She decided she would definitely want a Pikachu for her starter just like Ash the Boy.

That had led to Sammy smiling sadly and chuckling, and she had watched him in confusion.

"_You remind me a lot of him, Ash," Sammy sounded really sad and wistful. "Although, he was a lot more…dense and louder. And much more impulsive and rasher than you, certainly. At least you have a good head on your shoulders and think more before you act or say anything. Hopefully that'll stay with you while you grow up, huh?"_

But Sammy had still sounded really sad and like he'd missed his old friend, which made Ash want to have a Pikachu as her starter even more.

Drawn into her thoughts, she'd only broken out of them when she heard the doorbell. She curiously and eagerly began to make her way from her bedroom to the ground floor of her home, when she heard Sammy and her mother talking. Guessing it was Sammy who'd come, she guiltily stayed hidden and listened in.

"Professor, there's no way I can sign this," her mother sounded unhappy. "In fact, I refuse to."

"Delia, think of your daughter. Ash absolutely loves pokémon. Won't you just let her come and enjoy the summer camp?" Sammy tried to reason with her.

"…"

Ash bit her lip as she waited for her mother's reply. She knew now what was going on –Sammy was trying to get her mother to sign the permission slip for Ash to attend the Pokémon Summer Camp he was hosting. She wasn't sure how well it'd work; her mother seemed to really dislike pokémon these days.

"I don't want to get her too interested in pokémon," her mother suddenly confessed. "She might…she might want to go on her own pokémon journey when it's time."

"Would that be so bad?" Sammy asked in confusion. "Unless…Delia, you wouldn't feel it would be like she would be leaving you just like Faron did, do you?"

"Don't mention him to me," her mother said sharply. "And no… not completely. It's just….she's all that I have, Professor…Samuel. She'll go off so young –she's pretty and she can be so naïve. She'll be taken advantage of, and who knows what else can happen to her. If she'd been born a boy, like the doctors had told me she was supposed to be, I sometimes wonder if I would feel this anxious. I know I'd still fuss over him, but…Dear Arceus, there's just this buildup of anxiety and stress and _terror_ inside of me at the thought of her going out and traveling by herself, and I have nightmares of all the things that could happen to her."

Sammy was trying to be reassuring. "Don't be afraid, Delia. There have been plenty of girls who have gone on their own pokémon journey. Ash would be fine." But even he didn't sound so sure.

For a moment, Ash didn't hear anything else. And then her mother quietly spoke.

"Just for camp. That's it. I'll…sign the form."

As they finished up, Ash quietly stayed where she was, sliding to sit on the floor and resting her chin on her knees as she wrapped her arms around her bent legs in comfort.

She was happy she got to go to the summer camp, but now…now she wasn't so sure how she felt about pokémon journeys and going on one. A part of her felt sad she was probably not going to be allowed on one, and another felt the creeping fear of going on one, after hearing their words.

Sometimes, she really, really hated that she paid so much attention, and wished she could just be cocky, confident, and brash in ignorance like Gary.

* * *

The summer camp had been great so far. Ash was having a lot of fun! The best part was that she got to play with a lot more kids her age, even boys who didn't care she was a girl and girls who liked the same things as her. To them, the most important of anything was pokémon –exactly what Ash had always thought!

Maybe they weren't lifelong friends, but she was happy to be included and liked all the same. And they were friends for now at least.

"Ash, are you busy?" Sammy came looking for her.

She shook her head wildly, all giddy and feeling childish. "Nuh uh."

He smiled at her and knelt to where she sitting on the ground. "There's a Poliwag I brought in earlier, except it's been moving about. I think it's lost in this forest. I know you really know the forest around here clearly, so would you mind looking for it for me? If you can't find it, come back. It shouldn't have gone too far, so I don't want you going too deep into the forest either."

Ash scrambled and gave him a toothy grin, straightening up the slightly big on her miniature lab coat Sammy had gotten for her. She gave him a thumbs up.

"Don't worry! I got this, Sammy."

She was going to set off on an adventure! Ash giggled to herself and headed to the woods. It actually hadn't taken her too long to find the Poliwag. Only it was with a young girl with honey-colored hair and blue eyes that were tearing up, and she was holding onto her knee. Looking closely, Ash could see that it was bleeding a bit.

"Hi! Are you okay?" Ash bounded up to her.

"I'm Serena," the other girl sniffled. "I got lost from Professor Oak's Summer Camp, and I tripped over this Poliwag."

Ash whipped out a handkerchief and knelt by Serena, wrapping it around her injured knee. She tapped Serena's nose playfully.

"That's a good luck charm, Serena! It'll make the pain go away."

"It still hurts though," Serena rubbed her eyes.

Ash surprised her when she all of a sudden grabbed Serena and carried her like a bride, easily lifting her up despite being slightly smaller.

"Don't worry! Don't give up until it's over, okay? But for now I'll be your Knight Without Armor!"

She hadn't realized it then, but for the first time she had made a lifelong friend, and with another girl at that.

* * *

"Professor Oak, we just brought in a wild Pikachu," Ash heard one of Sammy's aides say. "It's really injured, but it doesn't want to let anyone come near it. It shoots off electricity at whoever comes near it. We've tried to get it back into the pokéball we originally put it in to safely and quickly transfer it here, but it's refusing to."

"I see," Sammy replied. "It's in the Corral, right? Leave it be for now. Perhaps if it can see how happy and cared for pokémon are here, it'll feel better about being here and around us. We'll still have to monitor it to make sure its condition doesn't worsen."

Ash curiously left them behind and headed to the Corral, going on a search for the Pikachu. She saw it lying by the area usually inhabited by the grass pokémon, where it lay on soft grass and practically hid in it. It was quick to notice her approaching, but she only slowed down and didn't completely stop. Plopping onto her knees, she started to crawl towards it. It watched her warily. An arm's length away, it shot electricity at her, so she stopped.

She tilted her head and stayed on all fours, staring at it.

"Pika? Pika Pika, Pikachu," Ash blurted out and it stared back at her strangely. "Pika?"

It unwillingly giggled and slowly, slowly came to her, hesitantly butting its head against her bowed one.

"Pika," it replied smartly, and then lightly slapped her head a few times with his tail.

Ash giggled too and reached out to pet Pikachu's head. Gently, she reminded herself. Gently. She couldn't be rough, like how she played rough with the boys, or play rowdy just because she usually was, girl or not.

Gentle…

Later, Sammy found both of them lying in that pasture, curled up around each other. He scooped them up into his arms and carried them back to the main part of the lab.

* * *

A little after all that, Ash turned seven. As a birthday present, Sammy was bringing her along to a medical convention in Celadon City, where after he'd take her around the city and show her everything. While he was at the convention, she was supposed to stay in the hotel room and watch TV, order room service, and whatever else was available to her in the room.

She missed Pikachu. She wished she could have brought him, but her mother had seen them off and she wasn't supposed to know that Ash kinda, sort of, _maybe _already had a pokémon. Or was preparing for a pokémon journey. Neither of which her mother would approve of.

But that was just details.

Even though she was supposed to stay in the room, she was bored and restless. If she was quick…maybe she could just, only a little…go outside for a bit and see what the city looked like. She wouldn't stray too far.

Mind made up, she snuck outside and wandered around the area close to the hotel.

"Hey there, love. What are you doing around here, by yourself? Are you lost?" Ash blinked and looked at the man that had been talking to her.

He wore a kind smile, dressed in a forest green tracksuit, and was holding a Vulpix in his arms.

"No, I was just exploring," she told him, eyes wide.

He laughed. "I see. An adventurous girl, huh? You want to come over and pet Vulpix? She's shy, but she likes attention. Little girls like cute things, don't they?"

She made an agreeing noise, coming over curiously and reaching a hand towards the quiet pokémon. Without warning, her wrist was snatched by the man and he was pulling her closer.

"Now, now. Don't make a fuss or else," his voice had turned menacing and he was gripping her wrist tightly. She whimpered. "Cute little girls like you should keep quiet and just stand around looking pretty."

"And I think disgusting men like you should find themselves bereft of their life," another man's voice spoke up and Ash saw a taller man, with broad shoulders and dressed in an expensive vivid orange suit, stand behind the man.

For some reason, the man holding onto her stiffened. He then quickly let go of her and moved away, and Ash only caught a glimpse of something dark and metallic disappearing back into the well-dressed man's suit jacket, before the man took his hand back out and let it rest by his side.

"Be gone," he barked at the man that had scared her, and immediately he was gone. Then he was turning to her. "Should you be out here alone?"

She looked down. "…No. I should be in my room, but I was alone and bored."

For a moment he was quiet, before he sighed. "Come. Let us return to your hotel. I'll escort you back, little one."

She followed behind dutifully, though she did make sure he was going to the right place and that he was leading her there in the first place. There, he brought her to the hotel restaurant, where he ordered her a sundae and she delightfully dug in. She was confused, but pleased that he was staying with her.

"Have you ever heard of not talking with strangers, much less going with one?" he asked her wryly, but also ironically.

She ducked her head timidly.

"Next time, scream when someone grabs you like that," he told her firmly. "No matter what they say. Screaming attracts attention, and you'll likely be saved."

She gave him a small smile.

His name was Giovanni, she found out. He had a Persian that he let out and let Ash pet and hold tightly onto after she ate. He listened to her patiently and actually talked to her. It was the first time she actually felt _wanted_, and not a burden.

His hand settled heavily on her head and rubbed it gently. He looked at her seriously and she watched him intensely in return.

"This world is an _ugly_ place. You shouldn't be so trusting, _dolcezza_," he murmured. He rubbed her head one last time and then stood up.

"Remember that, little blackbird. Remember the true, ugly face of this world."

He began to walk away, his Persian rubbing up against Ash's small legs before following after its master.

Ash bit her lip and stared into the melting mess of her sundae.

Was the world outside of her life in Pallet really so terrible?

Started 8/17/14 – Completed 8/17/14

**A/n: Again, please don't bug me about genderbending Ash. Otherwise, hope everyone enjoyed and please leave a review!**


	2. A Girl's Advent

Disclaimer: My name's certainly not affiliated with Pokémon –not unless I want to be sued .  
Story: A female Ash Ketchum is faced with being unable to fulfill her dreams with prejudices against her gender, and realizing that the world is a dark, ugly place.  
Set as a genderbent AU, a realistic view of traveling the world as a young pokémon trainer.  
Spoilers: For M4 "Voice of the Forest," and probably a few episodes. Mainly to do with canon events for characters (i.e. history/background).  
**Warnings: Dark themes, sexual situations, criminal activity, crime themes, human trafficking, etc...  
****Pairings: Eventual Giovanni, Archie, Maxie, Cyrus/Fem!Ash (BurntLedgerShipping with genderbent Ash twist, yeah I made that up ;P), but starts out slowly and separately with ShatterShipping (Gio/Ash), KyogreCrossingShipping (Archie/Ash), BurningAshesShipping (Maxie/Ash), and RedTreeShipping (Cyrus/Ash). Slight AmazedGeekageShipping (Colress/Ash) will be included.**

_The bird is generally thought to be a symbol of freedom. They can walk on the earth and swim in the sea as humans do, but they also have the ability to soar into the sky. Birds are free to roam to earth and the sky. Many cultures believe that they are a symbol of eternal life; the link between heaven and earth._

**Precious Doll in This Ugly World  
**_Chapter Two: A Girl's Advent_

She knew she shouldn't really, but she wanted to see that man again. The one who had saved her from the kind-man-who-wasn't.

Yesterday, she had gone back to her room to wait for Sammy after Giovanni had left her in the restaurant. She wasn't exactly sure he had left her alone though, because there were people she noticed before that trailed around him, sometimes in the open and sometimes not, and who had been still around and had quietly made sure she had made it to her room.

She thought it was nice of him to make sure she got back okay.

When Sammy had come back from his meeting, she hadn't said anything or revealed she'd gone out. She was still somehow sure that he'd known, because he'd given her a look and she sort of fidgeted in place. But he didn't say anything and they had a quiet dinner, while he told her about what the convention had been about and what he'd learned. She made sure to pay attention, so that she could take better care of her pokémon in the future when she went on her pokémon journey.

After that, Sammy had tucked her into bed and told her favorite bedtime, about the time he met a pokémon trainer named Ash Ketchum (just like her, he teased). And she'd smiled inwardly because she had a Pikachu just like Ash the Boy now, and she hoped that Sammy would like her more than him. Or even better, that she would remind Sammy of the other Ash, and Sammy would feel less lonely and wistful for him.

But now Sammy was back at the medical convention, and she really, really wanted to meet Giovanni again. So she snuck out again, when she knew she shouldn't and even Giovanni had warned her against it. Or _had_ he? He'd only warned her against the world and strangers…

She guiltily latched onto the loophole and looked around the outside again, careful to try not to draw attention to herself and also hopefully the Man with the Vulpix wasn't around either.

"You know, I thought I said you shouldn't be wandering around by yourself," his familiar voice was quick to warn her, and she looked around and spotted him some ways away. She grinned widely and ran towards him, surprising him when she tossed herself at him and hugged him tightly. She missed the uncomfortable look on his face, before it smoothed out and he unfamiliarly repeated her actions, albeit with more care and less roughness (though his arms did feel rigid).

"Nuh uh. You told me to not go with strangers and to not be so trusting. You never said I couldn't go out. And I wanted to see you again!"

Then, in the middle of that public place where no one was paying attention to them, Giovanni gently pushed her away and knelt on one knee, so that he could look her better in the eye.

"_Dolcezza_, understand –_I'm_ not a kind man either. I'm not a good person. I am one of those I warned you against."

Ash frowned, but nodded. Except –

"But you're a good man to me," she blinked and he sighed.

He stood back up and ruffled her hair. "Come. You can stay with me while Oak is still in that convention, little blackbird."

"Eh? You know Sammy?!"

He chuckled slightly. "Who doesn't know the famous Professor Oak? You should be asking how did I know you were with him?" he hinted.

She furrowed her eyebrows in thought. "You must know everything."

"…That's one way of putting it."

Halfway to his room, which she was delighted to know was in the same hotel as her, he let out his Persian and Ash had fun playfully running around with it as they continued their walk. She barely even noticed that they'd gone into an elevator and gone high up, to which they headed to a lone door on a top floor. When she finally noticed anything, they were entering the room (or suite, more like) and she was gaping at the large expanse of the area, and the view she was surrounded with, wall windows all around and affording her a look of the city.

"I have some work to finish, so why don't you play with Persian over there?" he told her softly and she nodded, following after Persian, who had tugged at her skirt.

He watched her for a second, before he headed to his desk there and pulled out a laptop. For a moment, all was quiet.

"Um…sorry to bother you, but what's this?"

He looked up and saw that she was looking at the Mew plaque his mother had found and obsessed over for years. The plexi-glass case protected it, so he wasn't worried she would break it.

"That is Mew," he informed her. "It is a Legendary Pokémon, said to have been the first of all pokémon. My mother found that plaque long ago."

She and Persian traveled over to him and he swiveled his chair to face them, as they sat by his feet. Persian laid his head on one of his legs, and he automatically began to pet him as he began speaking about the pokémon, his quest to find it and/or revive it (following after his mother's ambition), and continued on until he noticed the girl had sleepily put her head on his other leg. He spoke more quietly, pausing his petting of Persian, to use his other hand to calmly stroke her head.

As she finally fell asleep, Persian wiggled out from under his hand and tucked himself into the girl, who automatically put an arm around the feline. Seeing no work could really be done in his position unless he were to move them, he just reached for his phone and began to send out some orders, his first being that someone was to leave a message at the front desk for Professor Oak to let him know where his charge was.

Afterwards, it was all a matter of delegating.

* * *

When Ash opened her eyes, she could still feel a warm hand softly stroking her head and she sighed happily. Lifting her head, she noticed she was curled up on Giovanni's lap and her head had been resting on his left arm, as his other was preoccupied with petting her head. Persian was contentedly sitting by his feet, licking at his paws.

"Finally awake then?"

She blushed and nodded shyly.

"Good. I have something for you," he said mysteriously. He reached over her head and grabbed something from his desk, handing it to her. She grinned widely as she noticed it was a Mew plush doll, though it was strangely a little heavier than a regular plush.

She hugged it happily and rubbed her cheek against it. "Thank you…"

"Maybe it'll remind you of me," he said in amusement.

She turned to him. "I won't ever forget you," she said seriously.

And then she jumped off his lap and over Persian, who got up and followed after her, and the two began to play a make-believe journey, with the Mew plush doll acting as an aspiration for the "pokémon trainer" to chase after through all the regions.

It made Giovanni laugh to himself.

Then Ash began to hum quietly, before outright singing and causing Giovanni to listen intently to her pretty voice.

"Are you going to Scarborough Fair? Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme; remember me to the one who lives there, for once she was a true love of mine. Tell her to make me a cambric shirt, sober and grave grows merry in time; sewn without seams or fine needlework, if she would be a true love of mine. Tell her to wash it in yonder well, every rose grows merry with time; where never spring water or rain ever fell, and she shall be a true love of mine. Tell her to dry it on yonder thorn, there's never a rose grows fairer with time; which never bore blossom since Adam was born. Then she shall be a true love of mine.

"Now he has asked me questions three –"

A loud knock sounded, interrupting Ash's singing of the old folk ballad, that Giovanni had closed his eyes to and had been listening peacefully. He reluctantly got up, aware both Ash and Persian were watching him, and went to the door. He opened it to find Oak on the other side, looking worried.

"I got your message, Giovanni. Is she –"

"Sammy!" Ash quickly came over and hugged him.

"Well, that answers my question," Oak said wryly. He turned his attention back to Giovanni. "Thank you for taking her in and making sure she was looked after. Ash, come on. The convention is over, so why don't we go around the city now?"

"Okay," she agreed, before ducking down and sitting on her haunches, so she could embrace Persian tightly. "Bye, Persian. I'll miss you."

Then she stood up and hugged Giovanni as well, once again putting an uncomfortable and awkward look on his face. Though, this time Oak was there to catch it, smiling inwardly at the thought of the acidic gym leader being softened up by a little girl. He knew better than to smile about it outwardly though. Arceus knew what Giovanni would do to him.

"Alright, let's go now, Ash," he hustled her. She let go of Giovanni and went to his side, grabbing hold of his hand. They began leaving, though Ash turned slightly, seeing Giovanni still watching them as he stood in the hallway. She couldn't help a small grin as she turned her body halfway and waved excitedly.

"Giovanni! When I'm older, I'm gonna marry you!"

He barked out a laugh. "I'm 23, kid. You've got 16 years to catch up to me."

But she gave him a happy smile, while inwardly promising herself that she was going to grow older and marry Giovanni when she saw him again.

Oak looked at her bewilderedly, while feeling uneasy inside.

* * *

When they got back to Pallet, they had gone to Sammy's lab first, where he'd gotten some surprise news. Ash didn't know what it was, but Sammy had let her go to the Corral, where she immediately looked for Pikachu, while he went to the main lab with some of his aides.

"Pikachu! I missed you," she said as she caught the mouse pokémon, who had run towards her and jumped into her arms. "I want you to meet a new friend."

She took out the Mew plush doll and showed it to Pikachu, who sniffed at it. He did understand that his owner and friend didn't really have friends, so sought friends in whatever and whoever she could; therefore he knew that even a stuff doll was precious to her.

"This is Mew. Mew, this is my friend Pikachu."

Pikachu played along, greeting the plush happily. "Pika!"

Ash smiled sadly. "Let's all be friends, okay?"

She missed Giovanni already.

"It's all your fault, Ash!" she heard Gary yell from behind her, and she turned to see Gary stomping over to her. Pikachu made himself scarce, so he wouldn't be seen by the other. Ash wasn't supposed to already have a pokémon after all.

"What are you talking about?" Ash groused, upset with the other for making Pikachu have to hide, and ruining her playtime. He never plays with her, so he could at least let her play by herself (and with Pikachu and Mew).

"Didn't you hear?" Gary asked sourly. "Your mom went to the League Board. She got them to up the age for kids to get their Trainers License. You gotta be 18 now!"

Ash's mouth formed a small 'o.' She hadn't known that at all, or that her mom had been thinking about such a thing.

"See? It's your fault!"

"Gary! Are you blaming Ash for that silly license change?" Sammy was striding closer, scowling. "It is _not_ her fault, and I happen to agree with the change! Children out in the world on their own, when they're 10…it _is_ senseless. None of you are old enough for anything, much less to travel and be by yourselves. 10 isn't an age where any of you are legal for anything, not even for jobs! I believe this is a good change to the rule. Especially with those people…"

He trailed off and didn't finish, shaking his head and looking uncomfortable at his thoughts.

"Never you two mind. Gary, I was just coming here to tell you one of your friends is at the front, asking if you wanted to go play," and with that Gary forgot about Ash and began to excitedly run to his home, busy thinking about playing with his friends now.

Sammy turned to her and smiled fondly. "Go on then, Ash. You can stay back here and play with Pikachu. You can sleep over as well, since your mother won't be back from the Indigo Plateau until tomorrow at the least."

Ash smiled brightly up at him, and he left as Pikachu ran out of hiding and jumped onto Ash, climbing up until he was perched on her shoulder and rubbing cheeks with her.

"Haha, cut that out, Pikachu! That tickles!"

Pikachu did, though he noticed something about the Mew plush in Ash's arms. He bent down a little, sniffing at it again, before catching whatever it was with his teeth.

"Huh? Pikachu, stop that! You'll hurt Mew," Ash tried to get Pikachu to stop, only for him to finish his task, unzipping the zipper he'd found.

A pokéball fell out of the plush doll, and they stared at it as it dropped to the ground and rolled.

"Is that…" Ash murmured. She looked at the Mew doll and reached into it, finding a folded up note inside. Taking it out, she read it and was glad that she could read so well.

_Ash,  
__When I started my poke__́__mon journey long ago, I had a Charmander for a starter._

_He will protect you well._

_Giovanni_

Ash swallowed nervously, walking towards the pokéball with Pikachu slowly. Picking it up, she tossed it and let out the magnificent-looking pokémon, who came out and surprisingly was quiet, which Ash was glad for since it wouldn't draw the others to them.

The large Charizard breathed deeply and bent down, lowering his head. She reached up and petted his head in awe.

"You're really strong, I bet," she murmured, and he huffed, a snort of fire escaping his nostrils as he smirked at her.

He butted his head against her hand and she laughed, beginning to pet him again.

"Together, we'll be great," she swore.

* * *

"_There are other threats out there than the Teams! We are so focused on them, that we are missing the dangers to our children, who are out in the world on their poke__́__mon journeys. Rocket, Galactic, Aqua, Magma, whatever –we are so focused on them that we are neglecting what I feel are the real dangers in this world; the ones who are hiding in the shadows and taking advantage of the spotlight being shone on the Teams, dealing with activities that are heinous and outside of humane thought._

"_While we're out focusing on the Teams, we have people like those rumored traffickers abducting our children off the streets, when they should be enjoying their journeys and learning about poke__́__mon and making friends. The focus needs to be shifted and the main threats need to be dealt with first –"_

Her mother shut off the TV, frowning as she did so. Ash stayed quiet, holding tightly to Pikachu, who Sammy had given to her as a "pet," allowing her to have Pikachu early and with less of a hassle from everyone (especially her mother, who was suspicious and still disapproving, and Gary who didn't think she would be much of a battler because she was a girl and Pikachu was just a "little, cutesy pet" –she couldn't wait to prove him wrong).

"You shouldn't be watching such things," Delia said sternly. "It's too disturbing for you."

"Yes, Mom," Ash inwardly sighed. Her mother went to go to the kitchen, but Ash stopped her hesitantly. "Um, Mom…are you still going to let me go on a pokémon journey when I'm 18?"

Delia gave her a strained smile. "…Yes, of course."

And then she was off to make lunch for them.

Ash sighed aloud this time. Her mother promised her, just after she met her Charizard (who she named "Maximus," which meant 'greatest' in Ancient Roman, to hearken back to Giovanni's Italian roots), that she could go on a pokémon journey when she turned 18.

She was 14 now and was counting down the days.

In fact, she'd just finished making a calendar to help her keep track of the days passing by. She was about to go up to her room and post it up, when her doorbell rang and she curiously went to answer it, with Pikachu jumping out of her arms and racing her to it. When she opened the door, she saw it was Gary outside. Oddly, he'd taken to visiting her more lately, and his face always looked rather red.

"Gary? What is it?"

He grinned awkwardly at her. "Nothing, really. Just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out?"

She blinked at him and gave a hesitant smile back. "Er, sure…"

It was really weird, but she didn't really mind the company either.

They watched a bit of TV, talking about idle subjects, when someone familiar came onto the screen and Ash's face lit up.

"Oh! It's Giovanni," she remembered the man she met when she was younger.

"He's really strong," Gary nodded. "If he wasn't so busy with his business, he would be part of the Elite Four or even Champion, instead of just a gym leader."

She beamed happily at him. "When I grow a little bit older, I'm going to marry him."

Gary laughed. "Yeah, sure, right."

Ash scowled. "I will too! You'll see."

"Okay," he rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say."

Inwardly, he changed his opinion about the guy, mumbling to himself that he wasn't so great.

* * *

After Gary had left, Ash and Pikachu were cleaning up the living room and were about to pass by the kitchen, when she heard her mother on the phone. She hesitated before deciding it wouldn't hurt to listen in.

"…I know, I know. I told her. I don't know. I'm not sure. I just…I've just been telling her she could go on one when she turns 18, but I don't really think it's a good idea. I'm just telling her okay for now, but I'm trying to work her into not wanting to go on one. Maybe over the next few years, she'll forget about it and just focus on her schooling."

Ash backed away quietly, blinking away tears. Pikachu followed her as she slipped out of her house, and then she picked him up and started to run. She ran as fast as she could, not paying attention to anything. She made it to the forest outside of Pallet, where she fumbled for her belt and took off the lone pokéball and threw it. Her Charizard got out and looked to her for orders.

"Maximus, fly us away from here."

She clambered onto Maximus' back, letting Pikachu settle himself in front of her, and leaned forward and held tightly onto Maximus. And then Maximus flapped his wings and then took off.

Ash continued to blink back tears and refused to look back.

Started 8/31/14 – Completed 8/31/14

**A/n: I'm really looking forward to this fic panning out :D I've got lots of plans for this. Anyway, glad to see so many people interested in this! Though it would be great if the alerts and favorites matched the reviews (hinthint) :) So please review, everyone!**

**Quick points:**

1. **Pairing**: BurntLedgerShipping (I'm ridiculously happy coming up with this) means that this will eventually (slow-burn more like) be Archie, Cyrus, Giovanni, and Maxie with Ash (fem!Ash in this case). However, before that, the guys' parts will be separate, so we'll have ShatterShipping (Gio/Ash), RedTreeShipping (Cyrus/Ash), KyogreCrossingShipping (Archie/Ash, happy to have made this one up too), and BurningAshesShipping (Maxie/Ash, made this name up too). There's a bit of AmazedGeekageShipping (Colress/Ash, made this name up too XD) and tinier bit of UnknownShipping (N/Ash).

2. **Ages**: I made it similar to what I have in "Loyal to the Game," basing it with Gio at 32 there (with Ash as 16). So Ash was 7, Gio was 23, Cyrus 18 at this time, Archie is 25 and Maxie is 26. Ash at 14 makes Gio 30, Cyrus 25, Archie and Maxie 32 and 33 respectively.

3.** Warnings**: This isn't really too much of a pokémon journey, but will be more about Ash traveling and getting caught up in trouble, and exploring the darker realms of a kid traveling the world by themselves, even with pokémon and companions. Therefore, be warned that there will be a huge point of human trafficking, probably being drugged, unscrupulous jobs, and most probably attempted assault. I'm also most likely going to have some detailed (though not too graphic for this site) violence and disturbing descriptions, so if you can't handle that, this fic is not for you.

4. **Themes**: Ash's _Blackbird Song_ by Lee Dewyze, Story theme: _Ugly Face_ by Nina Nastasia, and Ash/guys' theme: _When I Go_ by Over the Rhine.

5. **Teams/Antagonists**: The main bad guys will really be human traffickers, random strangers on the road, the world at large and reality. The Teams, on the other hand, may even end up more or less anti-heroes, but that doesn't change their beliefs or them (or at the least, not 'overnight' or even completely). Team Rocket will probably be more morally ambiguous for the most part (at least at first), Magma and Aqua probably extreme environmentalists-turned-terrorists, and Cyrus is a grade-A nihilist by the time Ash meets him (and gradually shift from that) while his team and all the other teams (minus Rocket) are plagued with fallibilism.

* * *

Anon Reviews:

Marie: So definitely continuing now:D And Ash won't spiral into depression too much, though she'll probably have sad moments. Won't guarantee that later, but right now she'll be fine!

**GUEST OF CHAPTER 2: See: behindthename (dotcomslash) names (slash) usage (slash) ancient-roman for the name Maximus, and behindthename (dotcomslash) glossary (slash) view (slash) roman_names**

**It's kept to Ancient Roman, rather than Latin (Latin is the official language of Rome). Roman names were of Latin, Greek, or Estrucan origin. Thank you very much for your attempt at correction.**


	3. An Unlikely Alliance

Disclaimer: My name's certainly not affiliated with Pokémon –not unless I want to be sued .  
Story: A female Ash Ketchum is faced with being unable to fulfill her dreams with prejudices against her gender, and realizing that the world is a dark, ugly place.  
Set as a genderbent AU, a realistic view of traveling the world as a young pokémon trainer.  
Spoilers: For M4 "Voice of the Forest," and probably a few episodes. Mainly to do with canon events for characters (i.e. history/background).  
**Warnings: Dark themes, sexual situations, criminal activity, crime themes, human trafficking, etc...  
****Pairings: Eventual Giovanni, Archie, Maxie, Cyrus/Fem!Ash (BurntLedgerShipping with genderbent Ash twist, yeah I made that up ;P), but starts out slowly and separately with ShatterShipping (Gio/Ash), KyogreCrossingShipping (Archie/Ash), BurningAshesShipping (Maxie/Ash), and RedTreeShipping (Cyrus/Ash). Slight AmazedGeekageShipping (Colress/Ash) will be included.**

**Precious Doll in This Ugly World  
**_Chapter Three: An Unlikely Alliance_

Delia was hysterical. Oak would be too, but he needed to be calm and focused, otherwise he'd be useless and unable to do anything or think clearly.

Ash was missing.

For whatever reason, the young girl was nowhere to be seen. She was neither in her home nor in Oak's, and Pallet wasn't that big of a town to be able to hide a young, recognizable girl like Ash. And everyone knew her and could recognize her on sight, so he wasn't worried about her running about in town and getting lost. That wasn't even possible –Ash knew Pallet like the back of her hand, all the ins and outs, the shortcuts, and even the surrounding forest.

So where could she have gone?

Uneasily, he remembered the call he'd made to Delia earlier that afternoon. Could Ash have overheard her mother talking on the phone?

"Delia, do you remember Ash being in the house when we had that…talk earlier, on the phone?" he asked her quietly, the worried mother calming slightly to think and then try to answer him.

"I-I'm not sure," Delia hesitated. "Gary was around then and they were watching TV…but I think he left soon after, and it was quiet. I didn't think she was in the house, that maybe she'd gone with him somewhere."

Oak frowned. "No, I asked Gary before I came here. He told me that he left Ash, and she was still in the house when he'd gone and she'd been working on a calendar or something. She…she might have overheard you and did something rash."

Delia buried her face into her hands. "If she overheard me, then she must've been upset that I've been lying and trying to keep her from going on a pokémon journey. She must've run off."

"I'm sure we can get the Viridian police to look into this," Oak reassured her. "Ash is a well-known kid and this place is small –if she's not seen around here for a long while, then she's not here. We won't have to worry about waiting for a full 24 hours before reporting her missing. Especially with those traffickers about…"

Delia sobbed. "That's exactly what I'm worried about! She's out there, all alone…You've heard the news! Kids, people, all sorts of them are being abducted right off the streets and who knows what's happening right now! I don't want Ash to be one of those girls that gets found in a body bag!"

Oak slammed his fist onto the table in frustration. "Don't you think I know that? That I don't feel the same way? Damn it, I practically treat and see Ash as one of my own! I've spent these past years helping her and trying to make sure she's not lonely and sad all the time! I'm just as worried and upset as you are!"

And bitterly, he wanted to scream blame at her for driving Ash away, for pushing Ash to this point. He knew how hard it was for Ash to connect to people, to find something she really wanted to do and felt she was good at. Pokémon and going on a pokémon journey were what she felt comfortable and at home with.

Yes, Oak knew the dangers waiting out there in the world, exacerbated by the appearance and terrorizing of this group of people (if they could be called that) who took others of all ages, and initiated such unspeakable things. Not even the criminal Teams were as heartless or disturbing. Maybe just as or even more dangerous, but at least the Teams were much more…ethically responsive, and had _some_ sort of moral compass.

They could be ruthless and needlessly cruel, but at least they weren't there to torture for fun or sell off children to the highest bidder.

Yet, despite all that, he couldn't smother down Ash's hopes and dreams, or completely shut away her feelings and wants. He couldn't discourage her from the only things she'd ever connected to, even if his mind frequently came up with horrible scenarios that could happen if she were to go out in the world, more so now that she was gone from the town and most likely out on her own.

Then again, one couldn't keep their children locked away forever. One day they'd have to leave their nests and fly away on their own, and experience the world for themselves.

Oak just couldn't help but feel it was a little too early for Ash.

He massaged the temples of his head, trying to think of a way to get this resolved and have Ash back home and safe. An idea flittered into his head and he hesitantly thought about it. Could he…It was dangerous though. And he cut that connection off because he thought it was too dangerous.

But…

Oak sighed and knew he had to make a decision quickly. It was important that he did too –Ash's life could be in danger and he would be wasting precious time.

"Delia," he muttered. "I think I might have a solution. I just…I just need to make sure first. Call the police, won't you? Let them know what's going on."

He needed to get over his reservations.

* * *

Nighttime had descended pretty quickly. Time seemed to have passed by, and for the man expertly rubbing his hands up and down the eager body against him, he had no notice of it. Time was not a thought in his head at the moment.

He had all the time in the world after all.

He pushed her through the entrance to the loft apartment, plastering his mouth against the curve of her neck. He lapped at the skin, his tongue creating circles around the area as one of his hands traveled to the back of her dress and he quickly found a zipper. However, already his interest began to wane and he started to become bored. Interest drifting, a childish and smiling face briefly appeared in his head, as well as a soft echo of a folk ballad.

He rolled his eyes and inwardly smirked at himself in irony.

Interest completely gone, he pulled back as he discreetly grabbed something from his pocket, peeking up at her to see her eyes were closed. Perfect. He slipped the pill he'd grabbed into his mouth and bit down slightly, right before he kissed her harshly. The effects of the experimental drug rendered her unconscious and she practically collapsed in his arms. He carelessly deposited her on his couch, and then let his mind wander as he took off his jacket.

Calling one of his agents, he irritably waited for someone to answer.

"Giovanni sir?"

He used one hand to unbutton his dress shirt, holding onto the phone with the other. "There's a woman in my apartment I want gone. Retrieve her and drop her off to her home."

"Yes, sir."

He hung up and placed his phone on his desk, fully taking off his shirt and flinging it off to lie somewhere on the floor. Going to sit at his desk, he turned on his laptop.

"_Now he has asked me questions three…"_

Of all the times…It's actually been quite a few years since Giovanni recalled that little girl. He'd actually kept tabs on her for a bit, calling on Oak and checking up on her for close to a year and a half, until the professor told him it was best he stayed away and forgot about her, as it would help her get over this phase of 'claiming marriage' to him. He'd found the whole thing rather amusing and flattering, and jokingly told the professor he wouldn't mind her outrageous declarations. Still, he'd honored Oak's request and had all but forgotten that little girl, minus the brief moments where she seemed to randomly pop up.

Still, for her to be thought of now…Honestly, he hadn't been interested in a woman or been with one for a few years now, and now suddenly Ash Ketchum invaded his thoughts like a plague right at such a moment. It made him question his mental state, though he refused to even think that he'd not been with someone or that he'd stop then, all because of that little girl for some reason.

It was a little too ironic, even for him.

Unwillingly, he started to hum the folk ballad she'd sung that one day, so long ago. If he remembered right, he'd looked it up sometime after she'd left, recalling how most sources agree its basis probably came from _The Elfin Knight_, and how the song was supposed to be about two lovers (former or not, whatever) giving each other impossible tasks to complete if they wanted to be the other's "true love." He laughed quietly to himself under his breath.

Perhaps he should come up with and give that girl impossible tasks to finish, if she still wanted to marry him.

His phone rang and he scowled, grabbing it and answering irritably. "What is it?"

He was surprised to find it wasn't one of his agents, but Professor Samuel Oak himself. Curious about what the man wanted, especially considering the last time they left off it was on strained terms, Giovanni purposefully softened his tone and asked more politely about what the other wanted.

Oak took a deep breath on the other side.

"I need your help, Giovanni."

* * *

Ash didn't know how long or how fast Maximus had flown them, but she did know that it was nighttime now and Maximus had taken off at an impressive speed, and had maintained that speed for the entire journey. She knew Viridian was too close to Pallet, so she hadn't gone there, but she didn't know where they'd gone after aimlessly flying straight and having no direction. Plus, Maximus was tiring by then and she didn't want to wear him out or push him passed his limits.

Seeing bright lights in the distance, she tried to talk to Maximus over the screaming wind in their ear.

"I think I see a city! Let's head there and try to find some shelter!"

She couldn't see how 10 year olds would want to go on a journey when she was 14 and felt absolutely terrified. She'd rushed into this without any thought or preparation. She had no money on her, or food, clothes, or anything else that could help her. If she couldn't fend for herself at 14, how could she at 10?

Maximus began slowing down and Ash didn't have a hard time seeing the large sign proclaiming what city they were in. She gaped at it and Pikachu nudged her.

"Oh wow…"

They'd made it all the way to _Saffron_.

"Maximus, you're amazing!" He'd covered such a large distance, and in a short amount of time.

The Charizard puffed up and visibly smirked, straightening up in a proud stance. She giggled at him, while Pikachu hid a snort.

"But you must be really tired, right? You went this far and so fast! You deserve a nice, long rest, Maximus," she tenderly caressed his head with her hands, before she took his pokéball and summoned him back.

She looked at Pikachu. "Let's go in?"

"Pika!"

Hesitantly walking through the city's entrance, she walked around a bit until she came near a building where a man was enticing people to come in and watch a show. It looked a little like a circus show, and Ash was eager to come in and watch.

"Hey, pretty love!" the man winked at her. "What about you? Do you want to come in and watch pokémon and humans perform live?"

She grinned and nodded enthusiastically, but her smile fell off when she realized something.

"I don't have any money," she sighed.

He waved her off, grinning back at her. "It's a free show on Fridays! We like to let the crowd come in and see it, so they'll spread it through word of mouth and even come again themselves."

With that, Ash was let in and she and Pikachu excitedly looked around for a seat, sitting down and then waiting for the show to begin.

* * *

Once morning had come, Giovanni made his way to Pallet Town, reaching it in little to no time. The small, quaint town was quiet and just waking up in the early morning, not many early risers up and about. Perhaps, after all this was over, he could drop by and give a surprise visit to that little girl. See if Ash remembered him, how she was doing…And it'll be interesting to see how she'd grown up in the years past…

He clicked the intercom button to his side. "You have Oak's address, don't you?"

The divider rolled down to reveal his second in command, with Archer calmly glancing at his mirror to see him.

"Of course, Giovanni. We'll be there in three more minutes, in fact."

Giovanni muttered something, before he just leaned back. "Alright. Make it quick then. I want to know what's so urgent that he wants me there quickly, and so important that he is actually contacting _me_ for help."

"Right away, sir."

He rolled up the divider again, and tried to relax in the peace he had left before he was to confront Oak. Unfortunately, that time went by quickly and soon enough he was in front of Oak's door, with the man himself opening it.

"Giovanni, thank you for coming," the professor looked oddly haggard.

"I just want to know what is so important you had me rushing over and that you couldn't just inform me over the phone. And especially since last time we were in contact, you made it quite clear you preferred that I keep to myself and mind my own business," he stated dryly.

Oak let him in and tiredly ran a hand through his graying hair. "I need your help."

"Yes, you told me that before. Just _what_ do you need my help with?" he raised an eyebrow, starting to get a little bit annoyed.

"Ash has gone missing."

Giovanni unwittingly froze, before turning on his heel slowly and staring down the professor.

"What do you mean she is missing?"

Oak explained the situation as much as he could, and Giovanni's hands clenched. Honestly, his own reaction seemed rather irrational, but he couldn't help feeling extremely furious at the situation and at the professor.

"Do we have any clue as to where she could have gone?" he growled, his jaw clenching in anger.

"We're pretty sure it was spontaneous and that she just left without any preparation or having really thought about it. She's taken nothing with her, but the Pikachu I gave her."

Giovanni grunted slightly, thinking. Well, at least she'd taken her Pikachu. His eye glinted and he turned to Oak impatiently.

"What about her Charizard? Did she take her Charizard as well?" he asked keenly.

Oak blinked, staring at him in shock. "C-Charizard? She doesn't have a Charizard."

Giovanni smirked slightly. So she kept it a secret, did she?

"Yes, she does," he corrected the older man. "I gave him to her a long time ago, when I handed her that Mew stuffed doll. He was hidden inside. So unless she never found the pokéball inside of it, then she's kept her Charizard a secret and more than probably has him with her at this time. Which means that she didn't just walk away and might've even flown a distance."

He frowned at that. That made looking for her harder, if she flew on his old Charizard, instead of walking from Pallet and to the next city as had been presumed. Plus, Viridian was _his_ home ground, and it would have been much easier to find Ash there with his agents crawling all over the place.

"But you're the boss of Team Rocket," Oak blurted out and Giovanni looked at him sharply, hiding how caught off guard he was. "I don't have any concrete proof, but I've always had my suspicions. I…it was why I wasn't too keen on you being around and too interested in Ash before. I didn't think it would've been a good idea to have her so partial to a crime boss."

Giovanni shifted slightly, but inclined his head in agreement. He could see Oak's reckoning and agree with it a bit, though he had to claim bias and prefer the opposite claim after all.

"I was hoping that with you being the Rocket Boss, that you could use your connections to find her and have your people on the lookout," Oak finally explained his full reasoning in going to Giovanni for help. "You have the resources and influence I don't have, that could help find her quicker."

The crime lord frowned, tapping his fingers on his thigh. "Of course I would have done so without you asking about it, or even had you not known about who I was," Giovanni implicitly confirmed his identity. "I'm just not in the same business as those people. I need to think how to find and contact them."

Oak hesitated, before he decided to hell with it. Ash was more important.

"I could…I could get you all the information the League has been compiling about them," Oak offered. "We've been trying to discreetly find a solution and catch these people, for the sake of the kids and everyone, especially traveling about on pokémon journeys unaware."

"That would help," Giovanni agreed. "I tend to try to get information on anything and everything, just to be prepared. However, whoever they are, this organization works very well in the shadows and they don't leave signs behind. If they have a paper trail, it's probably hardcopy, which is harder to track nowadays since everyone favors electronic paperwork. No witnesses are left behind; anyone left are bodies that your people lock up and examine, keeping whatever they learn from the autopsies to themselves.

"Because me and mine usually ignore them and designated them as non-priority, no matter how much I dislike them and their methods, we're all kept out of each other's way and I had no need to push to find information on them. So any actual attempts are usually foiled by your people finding it first, and then keeping it locked up," Giovanni reasoned his, for once, lack of information about the group.

"Please, Giovanni. They made it _personal_," Oak pleaded.

Giovanni pressed his lips into a very thin line. "Yes, yes they did. And I already told you –I have this. Just get me that information."

It had been a very brief meeting in actuality, all that time ago. But if she was allowed to claim him (as silly as it had been), then in whatever strange, fated role assigned to her, he should be allowed to claim her back, right?

And he protected and was possessive of what was rightfully his.

* * *

Giovanni sniffed lightly, the smell of Lysol and a hint of some sort of cookies lingering in the air. Slowly, he walked up the stairs, fingers lightly trailing on the railing. He found Ash's room quickly, the door opened and clearly a room decorated visibly with pokémon paraphernalia. Although, once he actually stepped into it, he was surprised by how sparsely decorated and rather bare it actually was, for an adolescent teenager.

There was nothing to truly mark the room as anything belonging to someone of Ash's age. Her bed sheet covers and pillow cases were a plain crimson red (he thoroughly approved of the color), and the few decorations around the room were pictures. Mostly photographs of Ash with the pokémon probably from Oak's Corral, quite a few of her and what he supposed was her Pikachu, and some with Ash and the professor. There were a few with her mother, and even more rarely with a boy her age with reddish brown hair. One picture stood out because it was the only one with the two, with Ash standing next to another young girl, who wore stylish clothes and had honey-brown hair and blue eyes, and a Poliwag in Ash's arms.

But then his sharp eyes caught sight of something that was next to an official League pokéball clock on the dresser next to the bed. The Mew plush doll he'd given her was sitting up and resting against the clock, and he gravitated towards it.

He reached out and grabbed it, lifting it up to examine it in sort of…fascination. He hadn't really expected her to keep it, and especially not this long and at her age. And it looked _very_ well taken cared of, for the time it's been owned.

Obviously, it looked worn. But that was expected because of its age and the fact it seemed like she regularly kept contact and held it around. But it was clean and kept together, and not falling apart. The color of it didn't seem all that faded, and there seemed to still be an appropriate amount of stuffing that had the plush puffed up and looking lively.

His thumb brushed against the plush's snout, before he turned it over and found the zipper. Pulling it down, he nodded in satisfaction to find the pokéball he'd put in there gone. So she more than likely had Charizard with her.

After zipping it back up, he pocketed the Mew doll, intending to personally return it to her once he found her again. Then he turned on his heel and began to walk out, stopping only when he saw something else. Above her desk, there was a personally-made calendar hung up. It was full of sketches and he made a mental note to scour around at a later date, and see if she had a book full of her sketches. They were quite good and he'd like to hold onto it.

Taking the pushpins out, he took the calendar and examined it more closely, seeing the care that went into it, as well as how it obviously was meant to be a countdown to when she would be going on her pokémon journey. Journeys traditionally started on April 1, and her birthday actually landed around that time. In fact, if he remembered correctly, her birthday was around the time he'd met her.

He went back to focusing on it, and looked closer at the tiny notes she'd made on certain dates. He looked at the note on the space that landed on her 18th birthday, and couldn't refrain from the burst of laughter that escaped him.

Dear Arceus, this girl…

_One step closer on becoming a Poke__́__mon Master and going to marry Giovanni!_

Well, that answered his question about whether or not she was still going on about marrying him. Perhaps he should just give in and concede to her. It wasn't like he was really interested in finding a wife otherwise, or even cared to.

Carefully tucking her calendar into the inside of his jacket, he chuckled and continued on his way. He had a girl to find after all.

* * *

Ash screamed along with the others, clapping in cheer for the good show. Pikachu echoed her, having equally enjoyed the show himself. After awhile, the show ended but they were calling out seats for a special behind the scenes tour. When Ash's seat was called, she excitedly jumped up and jogged to join the group of people that had been chosen.

"So everyone's all here?" one of the performers, a pretty lady that had been one of the jugglers, grinned at the group. "Follow me then!"

Ash ohhed and ahhed with everyone else as they were taken to the back and shown around. They even got to go up to some of the pokémon that had performed, interacting and petting some of them.

All of a sudden, Ash was grabbed from behind and the sharp edge of a knife was at her neck. There were screams from around her, and she caught sight of the group of people she'd been with being surrounded as well.

The knife against her neck pressed harder and she felt the cut forming and a stinging pain, then the trickle of blood slithering down her neck.

"Hey, little bird. If you didn't want to be caught, you shouldn't have gone for the bait," a familiar voice snickered into her ear.

She closed her eyes tightly and hoped Pikachu had gotten away.

Started 9/18/14 – Completed 9/20/14

**A/n: Ohh, things are heating up now, huh? I'm looking forward to the future! Please drop a review! I really enjoy reading everyone's comments and appreciate the feedback.**

**Quick Important Points:**

1. **Violence and Rating**: I am pretty sure next chapter the violence will start to get really going and if you're squeamish, might not be best to read on. I could try separating it from the rest of the story, but I tend to interweave the sections and make it hard to separate the scenes when I end up interspersing it with the rest of the story content. I'm also know sure about upping the rating, as I usually am more familiar rating M when I write more mature stories that involve sexual situations rather than violence. I'll leave that for the readers to decide, so if at least one person by the end of the next chapter thinks it should be M, then I'll change the rating.

2. **Charizard and Name**: I took Charizard as Giovanni's starter from "Pokémon Origins", which I tend to keep headcanon as part of Giovanni's backstory for me. His name could have ended up as either Brutus ("heavy") or Nero ("strong, vigorous"), but I went with Maximus ("greatest") because every time I envisioned Ash calling him, that name came up more often and slightly a bit more smoother than the others. Plus, I love "Gladiator" and Giovanni's Charizard would be the greatest XD Also, I say Ancient Roman, because Latin was the official language back then, but the names had difference and mixed origins (just in case people missed the last chapter's edited note to a guest).

3. **Folk Ballad (Scarborough Fair)**: Due to the meaning of the song and the messed up pairings with Ash, it parallels. Especially with the struggles Ash will have to go on her own and with them. I'm pretty sure it'll be a running theme through the story.

4. **Poke****́****mon**: In case people are still thinking it, this isn't so much of Ash catching pokémon and going on a "traditional" journey. And more likely, Ash will just have Pikachu and Maximus. Hey –it's the Third Triumvirate :D

* * *

Anon Reviews:

To Awesome: Thanks! I hope you'll continue to like it!


	4. Red Rain

Disclaimer: My name's certainly not affiliated with Pokémon –not unless I want to be sued .  
Story: A female Ash Ketchum is faced with being unable to fulfill her dreams with prejudices against her gender, and realizing that the world is a dark, ugly place.  
Set as a genderbent AU, a realistic view of traveling the world as a young pokémon trainer.  
Spoilers: For M4 "Voice of the Forest," and probably a few episodes. Mainly to do with canon events for characters (i.e. history/background).  
**Warnings: Dark themes, sexual situations, criminal activity, crime themes, human trafficking, etc...  
****Pairings: Eventual Giovanni, Archie, Maxie, Cyrus/Fem!Ash (BurntLedgerShipping with genderbent Ash twist, yeah I made that up ;P), but starts out slowly and separately with ShatterShipping (Gio/Ash), KyogreCrossingShipping (Archie/Ash), BurningAshesShipping (Maxie/Ash), and RedTreeShipping (Cyrus/Ash). Slight AmazedGeekageShipping (Colress/Ash) will be included.**

**WARNING: Contains graphic violence, horrific descriptions detailing human trafficking, and a semi-brief non-con scene. May be triggery. Read at your own discretion or PM if you want to skip the chapter and ask for a summary of events.**

**Precious Doll in This Ugly World  
**_Chapter Four: Red Rain_

Ash almost whimpered, but the tiniest movement of her throat made the knife dig in just a little bit deeper. She did her best to refrain from any sudden movements, or to struggle so much when she was in the thick of danger.

She thought since it was public and out in the open, as well as an official and rather well-known show, that she would be okay. That she'd be safe…She was with people! There were a lot of them together. She thought what would happen a long time ago wouldn't happen again, not when she was surrounded by so many people and was in a group, and with it being such a public event.

How did it happen like this?

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen," the man behind her said loudly to address the group. "We're going to do this nice and quietly. Don't struggle or else we'll have to get a little rough on all of you, and things might get a little messy."

"The hell I'll go quietly!" one of the men in the group she was with yelled angrily, consumed with fear and panic.

One of the circus people rolled their eyes and strolled over to him, stopping behind the guy as he took something from out of his belt and cocked back the hammer of a gun and then point blank shot the man in the head, blood splattering from the exit hole through the man's forehead. The deceased man had a final look of surprise before he fell forward and hit the ground face down.

Ash let out a little scream that mostly got stuck in her throat, while all around her everyone else in the group let out louder screams.

"Good girl," the man holding her whispered into her ear. "One little move, and that pretty little white neck of yours will be stained red. Do you understand?"

She gave a small nod, careful of the knife against her. She blinked back tears, but really she just wanted to cry and curl into a ball on the floor, and pretend this wasn't happening to her right now.

"Okay, everyone down on their hands and knees," the pretty lady from before told all of them coldly, her pretty features twisted into an unemotional look. "Don't struggle," she warned them again.

There was plenty of crying and pleas as they all followed directions, and Ash tried to do the same. However, the man behind her kept a tight hold on her, keeping her standing there.

"Not yet, little bird," he murmured. "I have a little question for you. You're a little young to be a trainer, so why do you have two pokémon with you?" he asked as his hand went near her belt and took Maximus' pokéball away from her.

She whimpered, mind whirring quickly. "T-that was a gift from someone. It was a gift for me to have until I start my pokémon journey in a few years. The-the Pikachu I just met not too long before the show started. I-it left soon after this."

She was vague enough to be truthful for Maximus, while she outright lied about Pikachu. She could only hope, and it seemed like it, that Pikachu had gotten away and was hopefully safer wherever he was. She didn't want to think of what could happen to him, if he'd been caught by these people.

"…A few more questions then," he said, and she nodded slowly as she watched the others being tied up with plastic cuffs and being taken away, loaded up into the trailer of a truck that had just parked nearby. "What's your name?"

She tried not to move too much. She wondered if she should say her real name or make something up. And then she realized she'd taken too long as he pressed the knife harder against her throat in warning.

"Well? It shouldn't take too long for you to give me your name."

She winced. "Giovanna. My name is Giovanna."

It reminded her of Giovanni, who she wished would show up like he did so long ago –saving her from this man and whisking her away. But he wasn't here and he wasn't coming, and she had to realize that quickly and think about what to do herself. There was no one else there that was going to help her but herself.

"Giovanna, huh…You don't look like an Outsider, even though you have an Italian name. You live in the Regions?"

Ash was quicker to reply. "Yes. I live i-in Celadon," she lied, remembering the place as the one other city she'd been to.

"Giovanna what?" he asked then, surprising her. She had to come up with something quick, though she knew she couldn't use Giovanni's surname or anything close to it. She remembered one of his business rivals, who she remembered because the interview she'd been watching with Gary the day she left, had been announcing a partnership with a man named Cyrus Akagi. So she blurted it out.

"Giovanna Akagi, huh. Any relation to Cyrus Akagi?" he pressed her for answers that she was having trouble coming up with.

"N-no. I don't know him at all. Please, what's happening? What are you going to do with me?" Ash couldn't help bursting out with the questions.

"How old are you?" he asked instead, and she had a feeling he was vetting her for something.

"I'm 14," she replied quietly, starting to become subdued. Her panic was receding in the face of numb terror. "I want to go home," she couldn't help pleading.

But he pushed her towards the opened trailer, where she could see many of the people in the group she'd been with, all passed out or dazed. She wondered what was wrong with them, when the man with her took out a rag from his pocket and held it against her face. She breathed in the chemical that was doused in the cloth, and it wasn't long until she passed out as well.

* * *

She felt like she was burning. Everywhere was hot and she couldn't think straight. She couldn't even open her eyes and see what was going on. She knew they were closed because all she saw was darkness, and her hearing was muffled, like she was underwater and everyone's voices became muted.

When she awoke, she was in a moving car and was face down. She was no longer in the trailer, but a separate vehicle where she was lying in the back of the car and the driver was the man from before. She was bound now too, just like the others. Both her wrists and ankles were ensnared by the plastic contraptions, tightened to the point of being too tight, but not enough to cut off her circulation. Being unnoticed, she took the time to watch the man closely.

He was clearly handsome. He had sharp features that went well with his green eyes and dirty blond hair, and his slim frame seemed deceptively weak. But she knew that he was probably more than capable of subduing her, or anyone else, even those thrice his size. Besides, appearances can be deceiving and she could see enough toned muscles on him that said that he wasn't to be trifled with and wasn't as weak as he could seem otherwise.

"Awake finally?" he spoke up, barely glancing at her with his cold green eyes.

"What happened?" she dared ask, though she noted her tongue had trouble moving and her voice was slurred.

"You had a bad reaction to the chloroform/alcohol mixture. I was afraid that you might have gone into cardiac arrhythmia," he told her frankly, and she didn't believe he really cared. Any ounce of concern for her was probably more due to a loss of money.

"You broke out into a high fever," he continued. "You probably still have a bit of one, looking at your flushed state."

"What's your name?" she blurted out, still slurring and a bit dazed.

He was silent, causing her to fear that she might have crossed the line with her unintentional question. But after he started tapping his fingers on the wheel of the car for a few seconds, he actually answered her.

"Tobias. My name is Tobias."

"Is that your real name?" she asked, feeling her eyes droop as she began to feel sleepy again.

"Maybe, maybe not. Would you really want to know?"

'_No, no I don't,'_ she thought.

She just had a feeling she wouldn't have a choice.

* * *

Ash woke up again, to find she was in a dingy room with several others, who looked as miserable as she felt. They were all stiff tied up, so there was no chance of moving too much in the area or getting around easily. The difficulty of just standing up with their locked legs would keep them from going far, if they attempted any sort of escape with the way they were.

Suddenly the door to the room opened, and the pretty lady from before entered, watching them all in detached amusement. Her brown eyes landed on Ash and their focus intensified, catching Ash off guard.

"You there," she pointed at Ash. "Get up and come with me."

Ash hurried to get up, using the wall to prop herself up and then trudge over to the woman, watching her step so she didn't fall because of her cuffed ankles.

"You're taking too long," the woman said in boredom, and walked over to Ash, despite her being almost close to reaching her destination. Without warning, she yanked at Ash's shirt collar, pulling at her and causing Ash to stumble in surprise, tumbling towards the door and slamming her left temple against the frame. Ash let out a loud yelp, and was further roughened up as the woman kicked her legs and she buckled, falling head first out the door.

She felt the blood seep from the wound at her temple, dripping down the side of her face. The back of her legs were pulsing with pain, and she wasn't sure if she could move them. The woman looked her over and sighed, reaching for her head. Slender fingers slid through Ash's hair and gripped it tightly, and then her scalp was in pain as the woman pulled and started to drag her across the floor by her hair. She felt like her hair was going to be yanked off, and she couldn't help sobbing and trying to pull her hair away, which just made it worse as the woman held on tighter and yanked her back.

She didn't know how long it was as she was dragged across the floor of the hallway, the rough cement harsh on her back. She just knew it felt like forever until they stopped in front of a door, and she was left lying on the ground on her side as the woman entered into the room. Her back was aching and the back of her legs jolted with pain every few seconds, along with the pounding in her head. Even left alone as she was, she didn't think she could attempt to run off. Her ankles were still tied up as well, and she wouldn't have gotten far before she was found and probably met with a severe punishment for the escape attempt.

But she wanted so badly to get out of there and go back home, be in Sammy's Corral, play with Pikachu and secretly hang around Maximus, and train to one day be an awesome pokémon trainer. Remembering them, she felt herself become upset and beside herself with worry. What had they done with Maximus' pokéball? Had they released him out of it? Were they hurting him or were they keeping him in there? And what about Pikachu? Had her loyal friend managed to run away?

The door opened and Tobias stood there, shaking his head as he saw her.

"Really, Miranda? You couldn't have gotten her here in better shape?"

"She shouldn't have taken so long to get to me."

Tobias quietly snorted, glaring at the woman who passed him by and left the room. 'Miranda' gave one last disinterested look at Ash, and then departed from them both. He took that moment to kneel by her and scoop her into his arms, carrying her into what she realized was an office, once she'd gotten a good look around.

"Miranda is a complete sadist. I would suggest you would take care to try to go beneath her notice," she was advised as she was set down on a couch that was parallel to the desk. "Now stay here while I make some calls and finish my business, before I come back to you."

Ash stayed quiet, watching dully as she tried to take her mind off of the pain she was in. When he made his call, she listened as he talked dispassionately to the other person.

"A new batch has arrived. A good amount of them are women, so we'll have them trained and sent off to the buyers or auction them off. Some of them are better off for labor, which is where the men will be heading off to, except for the younger ones who will go with the women. Break them in, so they won't fight off the customers.

"Some of them are pretty useless, so we'll just harvest their organs. There's also a pregnant woman in the group, so have her sectioned off with the other pregnant women in our hold. Once they've given birth, those women should be broken in as well, while the babies are sold off. There's a few that we can market in a snuff film, and if they're still intact, we could sell off their organs too."

Ash shivered and watched the man terrified. Were they going to take _her_ organs? Was she going to be alive and aware when they did it? Or was she going to be sold off to someone or someplace, and forced to work all day and night? She was glad she was too young to have babies…Right? 14 year olds can't…can't have babies, right?

She whimpered, which caught Tobias' attention as he hung up.

"Are you crying?" he asked her in detached curiosity.

Ash couldn't help her sniffling, so she tried to distract herself by asking him questions.

"W-what's a snuff film?" She'd never heard of the term, and though in context it sounded bad, alone the name didn't ring any bells or sound really threatening.

Tobias tilted his head and watched her for a minute, causing her to grow uneasy and wonder even more about the term.

"A snuff film is when a person is _purposely __**murdered**_ on film, for the express reason to make a profit off of the filmed murder."

Ash sucked in a huge breath. She wished she had never asked, and now she wished she could take it back because she was going to have nightmares about it. She should have let herself stay ignorant.

"Am-am I going to be in a snuff film?" she asked, hating the fact she sounded so scared.

But she _was_ scared. Terrified really. And she was still in so much pain. Everything seemed so hopeless, and she couldn't see how she could get away or find a way out of her situation.

He slowly stood up from his desk and headed towards her, causing her to shrink back into the couch as he towered over her prone form.

"Hm…You said you were 14, yes? No, you won't be in a snuff," his hand trailed up her bare leg, and then firmly planted itself on her thigh, on top of her skirt. "No, you're much too pretty for that. The sex-trade market is in high demand for younger kids these days, and you'd be perfect."

Ash, desperate, threw herself off of the couch and tried to head towards the door, only to land on the floor as her legs once again jolted in pain. Before she could start to at least try to crawl, he patiently picked her up and sat on the couch, holding her to him.

"Now, little bird, you mustn't struggle. This is what happens to difficult merchandise –to break them in, as you must have overheard me order my associate, there are many methods we employ. We starve them. We beat them. We rape them, even to the point of gang rape. We can confine you, abuse you whenever we feel like, force drugs into you –so long as you're intact enough to make us a profit. Do you want to be subject to and broken in like that?"

"No," Ash sobbed, shaking her head in terror.

"Good girl," he stroked her head idly, the other hand making brushes against her chest that had her wanting to tear out of his hold and attempt to run away again. "If you behave, everything will be much more pleasant for you."

"Why are you doing this?" Ash blinked back tears, even though they came anyway. "Why would you take all these people and do these things to them?"

His mouth was too close to her. She could feel his breath against her ear, and his hand escalated from brushing against her chest, to more firmer and longer-lasting touches, though he wasn't quite yet groping.

"This is all relatively low-risk, did you know? But it's high-profit. It's why the human trafficking business is growing so fast. And well, unlike drugs, humans can be sold repeatedly," his tongue darted out and licked the outline of her ear and she stiffened up. She held still though, remembering his warning. "Truth is, you can generate a profit of anywhere between $9 billion to $31.6 billion in this trade."

His other hand stopped stroking her hair and went down to clasp hard on her thigh.

"A man, another trafficker, once said, 'You can buy a woman for $10,000 and make your money back in a week if she is pretty and young. Then everything else is profit.'" His hand slipped underneath her skirt and easily moved aside her underwear, a single finger poking at her. Her breath hitched. "_You_ are going to make me a huge profit. And I didn't even have to pay a single penny for you."

His finger wiggled its way into her, and she yelped and tried to move away. But he held her firmly against him, and let his finger make its way in and out of her, again and again. She sobbed unrestrainedly, not liking the intrusion, when he removed his finger. She felt relieved for a second, only to feel dread again at his next words.

"I'm going to personally train you, _Giovanna_," he revealed, emphasizing her 'name' like he didn't believe her.

And then his hand was back against her entrance, his fore and middle fingers forcing their way into her while his thumb rubbed circles against her clit. She could feel his two fingers curling inside of her and then unfurling, while his thumb pressed and rubbed her and she began to feel strange. She almost…almost felt good, which made her begin to hate herself for the reaction.

"You can feel it, can't you?" he murmured into her ear. "It's building up inside of you. It's okay. Spread your legs and enjoy it."

She shook her head violently, refusing him and wanting to run away. But it was this or what he said would happen to her if she made it too difficult on them, and she didn't want to be beaten or-or do _this_ with a lot of guys.

She felt the waves of pleasure go through her, building up rapidly, and she couldn't help her lower half quivering and her back arching upwards as she came violently against his hand. She started to cry even louder, but he just shoved his fingers into her mouth and forced her to suck on them.

"Good girl," he approved. "You're learning. You'll be trained in no time."

She sobbed around his fingers, inwardly hoping for _anyone_ to come save her because she didn't know how she could stay and do this.

* * *

Giovanni massaged the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes. This was a disastrous case. The parallels weren't lost on him either, though at least he and his Team didn't go anywhere near the brutality and viciousness these people reveled in. The pokémon they stole got some rough treatment, especially at the hands of his more aggressive agents, but the Team was better off with pokémon that were whole and not broken. A broken pokémon would be weak and therefore useless to Team Rocket.

That didn't seem to be the case with these traffickers.

They needed to break in their victims, shame them and break their spirit. They become more compliant and malleable to their group. Shaming them made them undermine their self-worth and less likely to run away.

_A human trafficker can earn 20 times what he or she paid for a girl. Provided the girl was not physically brutalized to the point of ruining her beauty, the pimp could sell her again for a greater price because he had trained her and broken her spirit, which saves future buyers the hassle._

He'd read the reports Oak had handed him. He'd always been a man of money and looked for profit, but even this disgusted him. And the thought that Ash, his Ash, might be in such a situation made him balk and yet also feel furious. And when he considered that the most business conducted in human trafficking was the sex-trade, it made him feel all the more dread.

_Sex traffickers often train girls themselves, raping them and teaching them sex acts._

His hands clenched and he swore if he found out any of them had touched Ash like that, he would put a bullet into their head.

The sound of flesh being pounded on stopped, and Giovanni looked to see Attila looking at him questioningly.

"Sir, he says he has nothing else to tell us," Attila informed him, using a clean rag to wipe his hands. "Do you want me to dump him back onto the streets?"

Giovanni calmly observed the man they'd managed to find, a lower-ranked individual in the human trafficking business. There may be six different main Teams around, but it seemed there was only one group (a very large group) that maintained this human trafficking faction.

"You really have nothing else to tell me?" Giovanni asked coldly, and the man shook his head tiredly, face beaten to a pulp. "A name? Someone important. You can't do that?"

"A…a man," his captive thought slowly. "He's high in the group. I-I don't know his name. He goes by a lot of names. Howard….Frederick…Anthony…He's got dirty blond hair and green eyes. That's all I know."

Giovanni hummed an acknowledgement, taking off his jacket and then his tie. Then he folded his sleeves up his arms and smiled coldly at the man.

"It's much too dangerous to just let you go."

"W-wait, please!"

Attila silently went behind the man and tightened up the restraints, before moving away and letting his boss have at it. Giovanni cocked his fist back and then landed a hard punch to the man's face, breaking his nose and blood splattering from the impact.

"Giovanni, are you sure you don't want me to deal with this?" Attila spoke up, watching his boss in concern. Giovanni usually didn't do the dirty stuff himself, or handled the interrogations personally unless he needed to.

A flash of Ash's face, the little girl from so long ago and yet still fresh in his head, went through his mind. His mouth tightened into a frown.

"No, I will handle this, Attila. This group has…wronged me, you can say. I want to personally make sure they go 'out of business.'" Giovanni landed another punch into the man's gut, ignoring the scream he let out. "Besides, I have a lot of stress because of all this, that I need to take care of."

He'd take it out on each and every one of them, if he had to.

* * *

Pikachu sniffed around the area, eyes darting around nervously as he tried to make sure he wasn't seen. But he was determined to stay with the group, while being unseen. They'd taken his mistress after all, and he wouldn't allow it.

However, she'd gotten separated from the group, and now he had to find her.

He'd follow along, while being hidden, but first chance he had, he would get Ash out of there. He just didn't know what had happened or where and why they had separated her from the others. He didn't even understand why they'd taken those people captive in the first place. All he knew was that he had to find Maximus and Ash, and get the hell out of there.

Pikachu let out a light growl as he saw the people that were to blame for all this, though he didn't see the knife lady that had lured them into the group to go backstage, or the man that had taken Ash and had enticed them into coming to see the show in the first place. However, he did smell a familiar smell and his nose twitched as he followed the scent.

Wondering if he was getting closer, he cheered inwardly as he found a familiar pokéball. He hopped onto the table and grabbed it, before carefully finding his way back down and moving away from that tent. He hid somewhere and held the pokéball, continuing to hide and not be seen by the group of people that had taken his precious person.

Maximus had to wait a little. He would surely be spotted and they couldn't sneak around, as was Pikachu's current goal in order to find Ash and rescue her from this place.

He chittered quietly to the pokéball in his paws, which stopped shaking as it had started to as soon as Pikachu had grabbed hold of it. He made his reassurances to the Charizard, who would wait patiently for now.

They just needed to find Ash and then they could make their move.

* * *

When Ash woke up, she was still in the office. Her mind was blank for a moment, not remembering anything, until it all slammed back to her all at once and she had to bite back a whimper. She curled up in a ball on her side, her mind racing with thoughts of what was going to happen to her. And then the door slammed opened and Ash shot up, staring in fear at the door. But it wasn't Tobias. It was Miranda, and Ash didn't know if that was any better.

Miranda smiled slowly. "Well, well, Princess. You look lonesome."

She came towards Ash, who cringed back, but had nowhere to go. The woman's slender fingers reached up and took a piece of Ash's hair.

"Such pretty hair," she murmured, before letting go. Ash was thankful that she hadn't gone back to yanking on it. "Follow me."

Subdued, Ash did as she was told, fearful of the consequences. She made her tired, aching body follow after the woman, who walked a brisk pace towards another room somewhat near. When they entered the room, Ash noticed it was mostly bare, large, and the only things in there were a multitude of cameras at around different angles. Miranda walked to the middle of the room, where a huge mat lay, and Ash followed, wondering what she wanted. Ash's attention became distracted, as she gazed closer at the cameras.

When she turned back to Miranda to hesitantly question her, all she got was a quick glimpse of a manic smile and then a smack to her face that had her fall to the ground. She crashed onto the floor, but didn't have time to recover as Miranda was on her and yanked her up, while pinning her legs to the floor by sitting on them.

"Be pretty for the cameras," she cooed, and forcefully turned her head to face one.

And she realized what Miranda was going to put her through, and realized that this was one of those snuff films.

Instinctively, she lashed out and managed to hit Miranda in the face. But before Ash could take advantage of it, Miranda had a hold on her and began wrapping a rope quickly around Ash's neck, and then she was suffocating Ash.

"Cat got your tongue, Princess? Ah well. _Try_ to scream loudly for the cameras, won't you?" she drawled, tightening the rope.

And then Miranda took out a knife, and playfully tapped it against Ash's cheek.

"Maybe I need to make you scream," she said, letting the knife trail from Ash's elbow and to her wrist, avoiding anything major.

Ash choked against her, trying to desperately escape from Miranda, whose vice grip on her seemed inescapable. The knife came up to the level of Ash's eyes, and Miranda flipped it into a reverse grip, pointing it at Ash's eyes as she slowly moved towards one of them.

"Why don't I dig out one of those honey eyes of yours?"

Without warning, someone yanked the knife away from Miranda and tossed it to the side. And the very same person grabbed Miranda and tossed her violently away, like a rag doll.

"Idiot woman," Tobias spat out. "Don't damage merchandise. I already told you she wasn't in the snuff group. And this is also why I don't let you in on those –you kill them too quickly, and don't draw it out like you're supposed to."

Ash listened, all the while holding onto her neck and coughing harshly. They were insane. Both of them were. And they were wrong –something was just wrong with them. How could they do things like this, and not care? Or enjoy it? She didn't know which was worse.

Tobias picked her up and then headed out, and Ash wondered if maybe she would've been better off with Miranda after all. At least she'd kill her and she wouldn't be here, and go through all this.

Started 10/12/14 – Completed 10/15/14

**A/n: Welp, the ugly has finally come out. Hope you all didn't get scared off. Please drop a review! I really appreciate them.**

1. **M-rating**: Meh, while I'm unsure the violence makes it an M, after adding that non-con, brief sexual scene, I would say this has become an M. Of course, there'll be full lemon scenes later, not on this site, but full versions elsewhere. And of course, those will be with the bosses.

2. **Tobias and Miranda**: They are very bad people, and not to be liked. Feel free to hate on them. Tobias is an apathetic (mostly) sociopath, while Miranda is a bipolar sadist. Any scenes with Tobias, or any other person non-consensually will be brief, edited or unedited. 'Cause you know, they're assholes. Right?

3. **Human trafficking**: I got the information from this site: facts . randomhistory human-trafficking-facts . html

4. **Gio, TR, and Other Teams**: They won't be fluffy people. As you can see, even with being planned as 'anti-heroes', they're not fluffy. Except maybe towards Ash ;D


	5. Burning Inferno

Disclaimer: My name's certainly not affiliated with Pokémon –not unless I want to be sued .  
Story: A female Ash Ketchum is faced with being unable to fulfill her dreams with prejudices against her gender, and realizing that the world is a dark, ugly place.  
Set as a genderbent AU, a realistic view of traveling the world as a young pokémon trainer.  
Spoilers: For M4 "Voice of the Forest," and probably a few episodes. Mainly to do with canon events for characters (i.e. history/background).  
**Warnings: Dark themes, sexual situations, criminal activity, crime themes, human trafficking, etc...  
****Pairings: Eventual Giovanni, Archie, Maxie, Cyrus/Fem!Ash (BurntLedgerShipping with genderbent Ash twist, yeah I made that up ;P), but starts out slowly and separately with ShatterShipping (Gio/Ash), KyogreCrossingShipping (Archie/Ash), BurningAshesShipping (Maxie/Ash), and RedTreeShipping (Cyrus/Ash). Slight AmazedGeekageShipping (Colress/Ash) will be included.**

**WARNING: Contains graphic violence, horrific descriptions detailing human trafficking, and a brief non-con scene. May be triggery. Read at your own discretion or PM if you want to skip the chapter and ask for a summary of events.**

**Precious Doll in This Ugly World  
**_Chapter Five: Burning Inferno_

Tobias hadn't touched her since the first time. She was glad for it, but wary by what it meant, especially after all his threats. However, she would at least be grateful for it, even as she waited tensely for things to change for the worse for her.

"This room is yours," he told her a week from what had happened with him and Miranda. He pointed to the adjoining room to his office. "This is where you will stay while we're stationed here. That is also my room. Do you understand?"

Ash nodded meekly, but the thought of being forced to room with him inwardly made her shudder. She preferred being held with the others, in that dingy room, although the numbers were beginning to lessen by the day.

She didn't want to think of what was happening to all of them.

"We'll begin your training," he declared then, and she stared at him in horror. "We won't be able to do the more aggressive stuff now, or else your injuries will get aggravated, but there are still plenty of things that you can learn and do in the meantime."

Noticing Ash's look, he shook his head and smiled emptily at her.

"You should be grateful. Unlike the others, you're being treated much more kindly. Plenty of the other women are already being sold out, even to buyers who would prefer to break them in themselves. Other women who are being trained now, are being trained _while_ being sold out to buyers. It doesn't even matter if any of them are injured –they would be sold out or trained in any case, so long as they're fuckable."

Ash whimpered and unconsciously started to back away, which only made Tobias stride closer to her. He grabbed her chin roughly and stared into her eyes with a sneering look.

"Remember your place and you won't get hurt. All you have to do is remember that," he growled.

His hand snuck down and snaked under her skirt, and one of her hands automatically flew up to stop him. But she reluctantly stopped herself at the last minute, forcing her hand to grab onto the hem of the shirt she wore, twisting it anxiously. Her other, injured arm lay uselessly by her side.

As he begun those horrid things he did to her last time, she could only wish that she was anywhere but there.

When she came the first time, she thought it was over. However, Tobias didn't step away from her, instead ducking down and pushing his head under her skirt and pressing his lips to her already moist entrance.

"W-what are you –" before she could finish questioning him, his tongue flicked out and touched her and she was embarrassed to have let out a squeal.

This time she couldn't help using her good hand to push against his head, trying to get him away from her. But one of his hands roughly grabbed her wrist and squeezed it painfully, and she cried against the wall while he licked at her.

Afterwards, having cummed again, Tobias stood up and stared at her critically.

"You'll need to learn not to cry so much, or try to get away," he muttered, scrutinizing her. "There are those who like some fight in their girls, but it's better if you didn't."

He switched moods and expressions, smiling at her and stepping into her space again. She tried not to shudder and kept very still.

"Did you like that? Did you feel good?" he purred, brushing her hair back.

She blinked back tears, biting her lip as she kept quiet and didn't answer him. He frowned and she wondered what she did wrong now.

"If a customer asks you something like that, you answer appropriately," he told her sternly. "Say yes. Answer positively to them, even if you hated it or it hurt. Do you understand?"

She nodded quickly. "Y-yes. I liked it. A lot."

Ash felt like throwing up after saying that, because she hated it. She hated him, she hated this place, and she was starting to hate herself.

Tobias nodded in satisfaction. He pointed to his couch. "Good. Now go over there and sit down. Lift up your skirt and spread your legs. We're going to keep doing this until you're used to it and know how to better react."

She stood there, frozen in shock and staring at him incredulously. When she saw his face begin to take on a dark, irritable look, she snapped out of it and hurried to the couch. Even though her face was scrunched up and ready to cry, she sat down on the couch like he told her to, and tentatively placed the heels of her feet on the edge of the couch's seats. After hesitating a moment, she began to spread her bent legs apart, and kept them wide open so that they were separated and she was ready for him to do what he wanted with her. Her hands shook as they gripped the edge of her skirt, pulling it up and leaving her lower half visible to his eyes.

When he knelt in front of her, she knew she hated it this way more, because she had to watch him assault her.

* * *

Giovanni watched the proceedings, lip curling in disgust. His agents were gathered in the area, ready to strike when the signal was given, but he had a special spot in the audience as a "buyer."

His skin was crawling and he wanted to grab his gun from inside his jacket and shoot down every last trafficker milling about the area.

He was going to have to do a major overhaul in Team Rocket's regime –he would _not_ tolerate _any _comparison to these traffickers of any kind. It sickened him to the point where he would utterly decimate these people and show them how much they disgusted him and how much he wanted nothing to do with them.

Unfortunately, in order to pull this off, Giovanni had to pose as a buyer for a "slave."

At the moment, he was stationed inside an empty warehouse at the docks of Vermilion City, sitting down with a bunch of other buyers, as a group of traffickers were setting up for the "auction." In a moment, they would start parading around their captives on the stage, and then the bidding would begin.

He was hoping Ash would be here.

His latest information said that this group of traffickers had been in Saffron City, which was where the latest bunch of large cluster captures had been taken. If she'd been captured, then she could have been part of this group, though he wasn't sure she could have made it that far. Her Charizard, his old companion, could have taken her the distance, but there weren't any sureties.

Then again, there were smaller factions around in each city, even individuals, who could have been the ones who'd lured her in. He just had no absolutes right then, and until he found any information on her, then he had to settle for aggressively going after every lead he got.

Before he could start thinking of other things, one trafficker stepped up and addressed the crowd.

"Please be seated. We will begin momentarily. If everyone will have their paddles ready, we'll start with our first merchandise."

Giovanni's grip tightened around the paddle, so tight he almost snapped it off. He told himself he had to be calm, but when the first girl was pushed onto the stage and stumbled into view for everyone to see, he nearly snarled. She looked horrible –there were bruises all over her arms and legs, and there was a cut on her lip. Her eyes were red, like she'd been crying heavily.

If this girl looked like this, he didn't want to see how Ash looked. He would murder someone immediately.

If someone harmed a single hair on her, there would be hell to pay. And Giovanni would willingly deliver that punishment himself. The young girl, somehow and someway, had made a huge impact on him in the short amount of time she had managed to get to know him, and he her.

He wouldn't take kindly to her being in pain or being hurt in any way.

Giovanni sat there through the auction, his dark onyx eyes darkening even more as he watched each person pass through the stage, and yet not a single one was Ash. This was clearly becoming a dead end, and he was eager to shut down the operation now and have every single one of these people, traffickers and buyers alike, suffer at his and his organization's hands.

Each slave went through, announced as to what "category" they fit in best, and then the bidding process would start. A lot of them, mostly women and children, were sold off as sex slaves. Giovanni inwardly sneered, wondering if these people all had such problems retrieving a woman for themselves that they had to resort to getting themselves a personal slave to force themselves onto.

But seriously, he noted what and who was buying the slaves. Some of them were personal buyers, which meant the slaves would go to an actual home to serve their new "masters" there. A few buyers were owners of brothels, and some other seedy places that discreetly (or not so discreetly) offered "extra" services. Two were rival massage parlor owners, and the others variously distributed the slaves between strip clubs, peep and touch shows, and other venues. He had no doubt the ones not bought, would still be sold out by the traffickers themselves.

Actually, he had no doubt the _top_ of those that were captured were kept by the traffickers and to be sold personally by them for the profit and repeated profit. Which made him wonder if he had to consider that Ash was kept with the other traffickers, considered too "good" and too high-quality to just be bought and sold by buyers, and if he was going to have to hunt down deeper into this group.

Though he pitied and felt sorry for the other slaves being sold, even those that were sold into labor work, his priority had and always would be Ash.

So he raised his paddle and twirled it, and then chaos was being sewn throughout the building as his agents burst out of their hiding and wrecked havoc.

It wasn't long until everyone in that building, from the buyers to traffickers, were all rounded up and tied securely. Looking through all the slaves there, even the ones previously bought, he saw that Ash wasn't there for sure. In any case, all of them were brought together and were being treated for the moment, for any injuries or ailments that could be treated on the spot. When the law enforcement came, Team Rocket would be long gone and the slaves could be further taken cared of, and returned to their homes.

For the moment, though…

The trafficker that had been announcing the whole thing sat in front of him, tied up and sweating bullets as Giovanni examined him. After a moment of silence from Giovanni, the man snapped in front of him.

"What is it? Why are you here? I don't understand why you're doing this or why Team Rocket is involving themselves. You stayed out of our affairs and we've stayed out of yours!" he yelled in a panic.

Giovanni sat on a crate and kept examining the man.

"You know…I'm starting to regret letting you and yours fester around for this long," Giovanni tilted his head. "But I'm correcting that now. Anyway, I want information. Tell me everything that you know," he ordered.

The man squealed easily and Giovanni gained a lot of knowledge from this. But he didn't get anything specifically on Ash, so he was starting to get frustrated.

"Domino!" Giovanni called out, and his petite but ruthless agent looked his way, stopping her current harassment of one of the traffickers to the side.

The blonde female pulled back her hand, pouting as she had to stop the slaps she'd been eagerly dealing out, though she eyed the blood on her uniform's gloves in disgust.

"Yes, Giovanni? What do you need me to do?" she turned to him, sighing in aggravation but pulling away from her victim.

"There's a crate over there. It contains what these people call 'snuff films.' Retrieve it. I want to see them before we anonymously send them to the police," Giovanni didn't know the term, but it brought an uneasy feeling in his gut.

"Yes, sir," he watched as she dragged a few others with her and they headed over to where Giovanni had pointed out the crate was. Then he turned back to his newest "informant."

"Do you know this girl?" Giovanni asked stoically, taking out one of the photos he'd pilfered from Ash's room from inside his jacket, and showed it to the man.

The man's eyes widened. "That's what this is all about," he mumbled. "It's about that girl."

Giovanni scowled and dealt the man a backhand.

"Quiet," he hissed at him. "Answer the question. _Do you know __**her**_?"

The man winced and peered more closely at the picture. Then he cringed.

"That girl called Giovanna?" he asked him hesitantly.

Giovanni refrained from showing an overt reaction on his face, but he recognized the feminine form of his own name. So Ash used an alias, did she? Using his name no less. Smart girl. And he felt a brief flutter at the thought that she'd thought of him and had used him as a base for a name.

"And what if it is? What of it?" Giovanni kept his stoic façade, waiting for him to get all the information he could and not revealing anything that could jeopardize that.

"She told…Tony her name was Giovanna Akagi," the man muttered, and Giovanni recognized the last name. If he remembered right, the day Ash ran off, he'd just sealed a deal with Cyrus Akagi about a business venture. She would have seen that, and probably took on Cyrus' last name. "She was part of this group, from Saffron."

Okay, so she _had_ managed to get all the way to Saffron City on Maximus. He was finally getting some facts about Ash's journey out, but he needed more.

"Why isn't she here then?" Giovanni didn't understand why she wasn't with this group, all of whom had come from the Saffron capture as well.

The man swallowed heavily. "She's in…she's in Kalos."

Giovanni stared at him blankly.

"_Kalos?!_" Giovanni roared, standing up and towering over the frightened man, who flinched back in terror. "What is she doing in Kalos?" he bent down lower, close to the man's face, and hissing menacingly into it.

The man started to stutter, but forced himself to be clearer at Giovanni's glare.

"S-she's with Tony," he said quickly. "He took an interest in her, I think. It sounded like he wanted to personally train her himself."

At that, Giovanni's mind drew a blank again and he stared at him with a disbelieving look. And then, before anyone could register anything, before the man could see it coming, a red haze drew itself across Giovanni's vision and he lashed out, smacking the man across the face. The force of the blow was enough to send the man flying off the chair. Still tied up, he lay on the floor, groaning in pain.

However, Giovanni wasn't done and was blindly attacking the man viciously, furiously stomping on the man's body before dropping to his knees and just dealing blow after blow on any area that he could hit, holding onto the man with one hand and punishing him with the other.

A touch to his shoulder caused him to jump up and whirl around to face the culprit, only to see one of his Elites flinch back. Pierce held up his hands, eyes wide.

"Boss…are you okay? Do you want us to take care of him?" Pierce pointed at the man lying barely conscious on the floor beside Giovanni.

Giovanni turned to look at the man and the rage grew inside again. He snarled and bent down, grabbing the man's collar and dragging him off to the side. He dumped him there and then addressed the group of traffickers tied up and watching him fearfully.

"Which ones of you are low-ranking?"

As expected, with his display, the ones higher-ranked obviously ratted out those who were lower-ranked, and Giovanni had the lower-ranked set nearer to the hostages. He grabbed one of them though.

"Are you a low-rank member?" Giovanni gave the younger man a hard stare.

"Y-yes," the kid, because he didn't look older than 19, nodded reluctantly.

"And all those over there –they're higher-ranked, while those that were picked out with you are lower-ranked, yes?" Giovanni wanted confirmation.

At the boy's confirmed nod, Giovanni let go of him and ordered some of his agents to bring the high-ranked members over to the man that he'd nearly beaten to death. They were all sat down on chairs, their ties tied to the chairs, and then the original man was put onto a chair and tied to it as well.

And then Giovanni grabbed the can of gasoline that he'd spotted off to the side, and strode over to those members, pouring the gasoline all over them. He ignored their screams of protest and the deathly silence of everyone else around him.

"Attila!" he barked out, and the blond, muscular man quietly but quickly strode over to his side. "Lighter," Giovanni held his hand out for the man's lighter.

Attila unquestioningly gave it to Giovanni, and then went back to his place with the rest of the Rockets, leaving Giovanni to stand alone in front of the gas-soaked high-ranked traffickers.

"You are all going to burn here, before you finally burn in Hell," Giovanni said coldly.

He flipped the cover of the lighter off, switched it on, and then threw it at one of their feet.

Giovanni remorselessly watched their burning carcasses, reveling in their screams of agony and suffering.

* * *

Attila said nothing about his lighter being thrown at the traffickers and left to be burned with them. Aside from the fact that Giovanni was the one who did it and he was his boss who had all say, Attila could always buy another one, especially with the check he received as his salary from the Team.

And these bastards deserved this.

Everything important had been packed up, so they'd left quickly after the men and women traffickers had begun to be burned alive in their spots in the middle of the warehouse, which then spread out to the rest of the area (aided by more gasoline being thrown around the warehouse to quicken the burning down of the building). There was a strange silence surrounding those that were left, and Giovanni was standing unapproachable and silent to the side, not facing any of them.

Although Attila agreed that those people deserved what they got, he couldn't help but cringe at the smell of burnt skin and the continued screams of the people inside. The people outside, particularly the former slaves/hostages, were eerily staring at the burning warehouse unrepentantly, and some even had small, strange smiles on their faces.

He couldn't blame them either, for enjoying the misery and deaths of those that had kidnapped and enslaved them, even though it was slightly terrifying to see so many people unaffected by such a brutal end, and the lingering smell and screams. The rest of the Rockets were pointedly looking away from the building and the former kidnapped people, going about their business meticulously. The remaining traffickers and buyers were staring horrified at the building.

Only Giovanni and the former slaves seemed completely unaffected by the callous murder.

The truth was that Team Rocket had never really gone this far. They didn't usually go off on a murder spree, despite the fact one or two people would occasionally go missing off the streets (but they were usually shady people or just outright criminals). But this…this was on another level.

And yet Attila couldn't say he felt sorry for any of these traffickers masquerading around as people. He couldn't find it in him to really regret the actions the Team were now taking, or feel anything but disgust for the traffickers that they were more or less hunting down now.

He knew and felt that these traffickers deserved every single punishment they got. They were despicable and if Giovanni, for some reason, suddenly decided that he was going to go after every last one of them and burn them all alive, then Attila wouldn't disagree or refuse to do what was asked of him to get these bastards to suffer.

Giovanni moved and Attila watched him carefully, but all his boss did was walk over to the group of former slaves.

"Do any of you have experience with a gun?" Giovanni asked flatly.

When a few of them hesitantly raised their hands, Giovanni gestured to some of his Rockets to come over, and then proceeded to have them hand over their firearms to the few that had raised their hands.

"You are to guard them," Giovanni pointed over to the still restrained buyers and the traffickers that were left. "My Team and I aren't supposed to be here, and will probably be arrested if we stay. We've called the police and they will come here to retrieve you all, treat you, and then send you back to your homes."

When he was sure they understood, he turned to the lower-ranked member he'd talk to before, who flinched when Giovanni neared him.

"I had no use for those higher-ranked members anyway," Giovanni started indifferently. "I would hope that my assumption that you and the rest of your cohorts will be more willing to testify was correct."

At the young man's hurried nod, Giovanni smiled coldly. "Good," and then he turned to the buyers, his smile turning into a sneer. "I would hope you all will cooperate as well, but I don't think it's too needed."

Those tapes better have something about Ash, because he was steadily growing furious at the thought of that "Tony" being anywhere near her.

He was going to tear that man from limb to limb…

* * *

Honestly, Giovanni regretted not finding out what a "snuff film" was first, before he went off and decided to watch a few. He felt himself dry heave the first time he put in one of the videos, watching as a five year old little boy was carved from the throat and down to his navel, exposing his insides. And then they tore out his intestines, slowly severed a leg, and then finally decapitated him.

Giovanni had to take a break and stand away from his monitor, calming himself down before he went to his liquor cabinet and poured himself a glass of vodka. The next few gulps calmed him even more, and he decided that having alcohol in him would help him watch the videos better, so he refilled his glass before he sat back down.

He also thought that just skimming the videos would be okay, but he still couldn't stomach watching the bits he saw. He almost completely stopped at all, until the last one opened up to only the room. It was quiet and then there were voices, and then he was seeing _Ash in the film_.

She'd grown up well, looking just as pretty as she had when she was younger, if only in a more grown up way though. She still had some baby fat at her age, but he could already see she was going to be absolutely beautiful. In fact, she already was…

And then it was all ruined and his thoughts came to an immediate screeching halt, when the woman who had brought her into the room smacked her across the face and Ash dropped to the floor like a ragdoll.

Shit, he'd _forgotten_ this was with the pile of fucking snuff films and that Ash had been brought into the same room all the others had been killed in.

It was like a train wreck and he couldn't stop watching. Ash fought back as much as she could, but then that fucking crazy woman had a rope around Ash's neck and was choking the life out of her –_"Cat got your tongue, Princess? Ah well. Try to scream loudly for the cameras, won't you?"_ –then there was a knife and she was cutting Ash, and then it was pointed directly and too close to Ash's eyes, and that woman was threatening to _dig_ out one of Ash's gorgeous eyes –

"_Why don't I dig out one of those honey eyes of yours?"_

The video cut off and Giovanni let out a loud curse, standing up abruptly and grabbing his lamp, tearing it from its place and throwing it against his wall.

* * *

She picked at the thread of the new slip she was wearing. Tobias had made her change into it and said she was going to wear that from now on. But it was cold and thin, and too revealing for her to comfortably wear, especially around others and in public.

It was nightwear, and what she knew those gossipy housewives back in Pallet would whisper was meant to seduce men and make a woman look sexy.

"Are you hungry?" Tobias asked her, and she glanced up at him miserably. "Come eat."

She reluctantly came over and sat down beside him, knowing she was being treated better than the others and that she should take this time to keep herself healthy and strong. If she did, she would have a better chance of escaping. She hadn't given up on that, and she wouldn't no matter what.

No matter what he did to her, no matter what happened, she just had to keep that thought in her head. She was going to get out.

"Open," he ordered, and she forced her mouth opened, trying not to retch or alternately bite down on his fingers as he personally fed her.

Some juice from the raspberry leaked out of the corner of her mouth, and Tobias gripped her chin, leaning forward. The moment she saw his tongue slip out of his mouth, Ash closed her eyes and held herself still, trying to not flinch away as he licked the trail of the juice clean. When he forced his tongue into her mouth, she didn't react and definitely didn't bite it, as much as she wanted to.

When he pulled back, she looked down at her lap, and tried to keep her eyes from watering. He continued to feed her and she mechanically ate.

He finally left when they were both done and she let herself cry then.

It led to Ash having another restless night later on and waking up feeling even more miserable than before. However, she was brightened by the face of someone she hadn't expected.

"Pika!"

"Pikachu!" Ash quietly exclaimed, grabbing hold of her trusty companion.

She felt tears prick her eyes, but they were happy tears this time. She hugged him tightly, though she let go when she felt a small, hard ball. When she moved away, she saw that Pikachu held Maximus' pokéball.

"Maximus!"

His pokéball shook a little and she smiled gratefully.

"I'm so happy you two are here, but what if you get caught? They'll hurt you!" Ash said worriedly.

"Pika pika. Pikapi!" Pikachu said stubbornly.

She smiled a little at her Pikachu's dedication and followed after him, sneaking out of the room. After a dizzying amount of hallways and stairs, Ash couldn't believe it when she'd made it outside. However, as soon as she stepped out, she was caught by a worker.

"Hey you! Aren't you Tony's girl? What are you doing out?" he narrowed his eyes at her.

She cringed back and stared at him fearfully. Pikachu bravely took a step in front of her, yelling at the man.

"Move away, you rodent!" the trafficker snarled at her Pikachu.

He strode over to her and harshly grabbed her wrist. Pikachu let out a thunderbolt and the man let go screaming. However, the attack was weak enough that he only stumbled back and didn't stop him long enough. Pikachu had underestimated the man's resilience, and was thrown back by a kick to his ribs.

He was forced to watch as the man grabbed at Ash and threw her to the floor, violently beating her in response to Pikachu's attack on his person. Pikachu growled and forced himself up, and it was at that same time as he let loose a very powerful thunder attack, that Maximus escaped from his pokéball.

The man was horrifically electrocuted, screaming at the electricity rushing all through his body, only for Pikachu to stop and Maximus to spot his mistress and let out a terrible roar.

Maximus blew fire from his mouth and aimed it at the man, burning him alive and encasing him in fire.

Started 12/1/14 – Completed 12/2/14

**A/n: …People still here? Yeah, this chapter got dark, really fast. More on the violent side of it though. I hope I haven't scared anyone away yet. Good news, Ash got reunited with Maximus and Pikachu! Bad news, she's all the way in Kalos. This chapter was also pretty much more Giovanni-centric, but I wanted to focus on his side and what's going on with the hunting down of the traffickers, whilst choosing to be vague about Ash and her time (not only to not spend any more time than necessary describing her horrible captivity, but also stylistically so that it's more of a vague, haunting impression in the back of everyone's minds). Also, since she's in Kalos, you know which Team she's going to encounter first ;)**

**Hopefully, you guys liked this chapter and really –please leave a review!**


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